KENTUCKY SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION: IN CONVERSATION WITH … JULIAN VASQUEZ HEILIG
The following Q&A was published by the Kentucky School Board Association in the December 2019 issue of the Kentucky School Advocate. This In Conversation With … features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate.
Julian Vasquez Heilig became dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky in June. He earned his Ph.D at Stanford and was most recently a professor and program director at California State University, Sacramento. Vasquez-Heilig has written extensively about education policy and social justice, and more than a million people have read his Cloaking Inequity blog (cloakinginquity.com). Vasquez Heilig also co-hosts the Truth for America podcast on education policy.
Q: You’ve spent most of your career in Texas and California. What brought you to Kentucky for this opportunity?
A. My uncle and aunt moved to Lexington in the early 1990s, so we’ve been coming to Kentucky for holidays for decades. I fell in love with the city; I bought my first UK hat when I was 17. My first cousin graduated from the College of Education three years ago. That’s the family side. On the education side, Kentucky has an innovative spirit and an interest in trying innovative approaches to improve the opportunities for and the success of students. The UK College of Education is the second-highest ranked college on campus, according to U.S. News and World Report. It’s also a highly ranked and nationally respected college of education. We have $30 million in research, 2,500 students and about 100 tenured-track faculty.
Q. When KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act) was instituted 30 years ago, UK and the other state universities did research on the law and helped implement it, but the schools haven’t been as involved in such public policy efforts in recent years. What plans do you have to impact education policy discussions?
A. One goal is to make research more readily available to communities, to policymakers. We have several initiatives under way to encourage faculty to make their work more relevant and impactful that we’re not quite ready to CONTINUE READING: Kentucky School Boards Association: In Conversation with … Julian Vasquez Heilig | Cloaking Inequity
